Mysterious Spain

Cáceres

Reina Sofía Museum

Ruins in Mussara

Haunted houses

Your heart beats fast, your hair stands on end, your senses come alive, your muscles tense, adrenaline flows… fear takes hold of you. If you like the unknown, then don’t miss this chance to visit some of the most intriguing places in Spain. Round off your journey going to the most exciting locations to see inexplicable things that take place there. If you don’t like getting scared, then read no further. Curious? Here are a few examples.

In the very centre of Madrid, close to Plaza de Cibeles Square, is Linares Palace, a 19th-century building, home to a famous legend. It goes that the Marquis of Linares married Raimunda without knowing that she was her father’s illegitimate daughter. Discovering that they were brother and sister, they lived on the edge of society, in absolute secret until the end of their days. Various witnesses claim to have seen ghostly figures in the palace rooms, while psychophonies, sounds not audible to the human ear, have been recorded.

If you take a walk along Calle Mesones in Granada, you will see the old Government Delegation building, now home to the Land Registry, known by the locals for strange occurrences that many have reported. Strange lights, objects that move on their own and female cries are just a few examples of the enigmas that surround the building of the old Magdalena Church where, it is said, the bodies of several young girls who had been kept captive were found.

Museums with something more than art

If you want to do something different after enjoying the sun and sand in Tenerife, make sure you visit the History Museum, in La Laguna, former residence of the Lercaro family. Legend has it that young Catalina, daughter of Antonio Lercaro, took her own life in the building after she found out about her arranged wedding to a man much her senior. Museum employees tell amazing stories of doors that open and close on their own, sounds of footsteps, sudden drops in temperature or female silhouettes that suddenly disappear.

The Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid was a hospital built during the reign of king Charles III in the 18th century. During the Spanish Civil War it was converted into an improvised cemetery where, amongst other things, the bodies of various nuns were discovered. Nowadays there are people who claim to have heard the sound of the crosses that the nuns used to tie at the waist. They have also seen lifts move on their own and some even claim to have seen the nuns’ figures wandering through the corridors.

In Cáceres you can explore Muslim culture by visiting the Arab House Museum. Besides conserving the legacy of a civilisation, it is supposedly home to the ghost of an Arab lady. Arms with no visible extremities, bangs on doors, windows that open alone and noises in the night are just some of the strange phenomena reported.

Mysterious villages

Mussara, in the province of Tarragona, is an abandoned village peculiar for the dense fog that surrounds it. There are cases of people having become disoriented by the fog and getting lost. Some returned to find that several hours had passed which to them had seemed like minutes. Many claim that the village is a portal to other dimensions.

Another abandoned village, Ochate, in the province of Burgos, is synonymous with paranormal phenomena. Some people have witnessed strange lights, the disappearance of people in unusual circumstances and psychophony.

Nobody can be sure that all these occurrences are real, but they have sufficient ingredients to make you want to investigate. Do you dare?